I bought the 616 in the spring of 2013. The bad press from the early firmware issues drove the price down but all of the firmware issues leading to many of the malfunctions were corrected. In...

Pros

Cons

Every single function works as it is intended.

I wished I had a need for a second one

I bought the 616 in the spring of 2013. The bad press from the early firmware issues drove the price down but all of the firmware issues leading to many of the malfunctions were corrected. In short us late buyers got perfectly functioning units at severely depressed prices. I designed my entire Whole House Audio around the 616. It works perfectly in every respect. I wished I had a need for a second one. Having been using it for two months, I can not find fault with it given its use for my main 5.1 seating area and two other zones throughout the house. I am happy to give up the better Audyssey for the sheer amount of features.

I iPhone app does control the receiver without the USB wireless dongle. I assume the android app would as well. With the receiver connected to my home network via cable all the network functions appear to work. No need for the wireless dongle unless you don't have access to hard wire.

It is interesting that when you watch the youtube video made by a Cnet type company but over in England comparing the 616 to two other competitors, the 616 trounces them. Even in the quality of the internal components, the 616 is just a better product. As for the poor quality capacitors then, I can not say where the THX certification is concerned. I think you will get arguments from both sides as the people that have had them fail are severe haters as expected and the people who have had nothing but an excellent experience are on the other side of the fence.
My understanding is that the wifi dongle is needed to use the wireless apps but quite honestly I've never thought about that. The wifi dongle is just over $20 on sale and works far better than I anticipated it would.

I'm looking at replacing my blown up TX-SR 607. Since I have the speakers for 7.1 set up, I don't want to go back to 5.1, so this is basically the entry level.
One of the problems with the SR 607 was poor quality capacitors on the HDMI board. Does anyone know if the THX certification make it more likely that this will not be a problem with this receiver?
Also I was interested in the Android app and internet connectivity. I know you need a separate USB dongle for BlueTooth or WiFi, but if I have a LAN cable to my router does this even matter (apart from BT streaming from say my SGS4 phone?) In other words, can I use the Android app to control this receiver with it just networked via the LAN cable?